USA - Gator Bait

NEW YORK (The Tuesday College Diaries) - The NC State fans had already started celebrating a win.

Farnold Degand had just hit a free throw with 2.6 seconds left in overtime to put the Wolfpack 61-59 up against Florida on their home floor.

But then Chandler Parsons launched a shot from three-quarters of the length of the court and hit it, giving the Gators a dramatic 62-61 win and adding to the puzzle of just how good Billy Donovan's team might be this season.

That one goes down as a statement victory, going to a strong ACC program and winning in their gym.

But it comes only two weeks after losses to Richmond and Alabama A&M sent Florida tumbling from the national rankings and seemed to suggest they did not have the incoming talent to offset the loss of Nick Calathes to the professional ranks in Greece.

You can only put so much stock in a win that comes on a miracle shot - a point Florida coach Billy Donovan conceded himself after the game.

"I obviously stand up here very, very humbled by the events that happened at the end of the game," said Donovan. "I thought NC State's players executed very, very well coming down the stretch. I thought our guys executed well and it's amazing.

"In coaching, you think you have a lot more control and a lot more impact than actually you do. We are very, very fortunate to win. There was no diagram, no play. A guy just took a shot and made it."

But even so, if Chandler had missed and Florida took a narrow loss, that would have been progress as they look to regroup from those defeats in the week before Christmas.

The answers will start to come next week when the Gators open SEC play against Vanderbilt, but the verdict on Florida would seem to be this - there is plenty of talent, but it is not evenly distributed across the roster.

The lack of a point guard will hold them back and cost them games, but clearly, when things come together - and when Parsons manages to find a jet stream towards the basket - they can pull off big wins on the road.

That might just trip up a few teams in the SEC this season.

Unhappy New Year on Rocky Top

One of Florida's divisional opponents might just have become much easier to pick off.

Until New Year's Day, Tennessee was doing everything needed to show why it was the clear No. 2 pick in the SEC East behind Kentucky.

A 66-59 win over Memphis in Memphis on New Year's Eve found Tennessee dominating inside and showing good balance against an arch-rival on the road.

But one police stop later, everything may have changed.

Four players - Melvin Goins, Cameron Tatum, Brian Williams, and, potentially most devastating, key senior forward Tyler Smith - from Bruce Pearl's team are facing charges after guns and marijuana were found in a car pulled over for speeding in Knoxville.

Pearl has promised "not to overreact, not to underreact" once the facts are established, and admitted that may lead to multiple dismissals from his team if necessary.

All the players involved had big roles to play, and the loss of any would be a huge hit. If Smith were to go, Tennessee's season could be headed south fast.

Stephenson Steps Up

When Cincinnati won the recruiting war for Lance Stephenson, Bearcat fans hoped they were getting something special.

The 6ft 5in forward out of Brooklyn was certainly billed that way.

And he is living up to it already.

Cincinnati had watched a 12-point lead over Connecticut evaporate last Wednesday as the game was tied 69-69 with a second to go.

But Stephenson was fouled and then calmly sank both free throws to seal the Bearcats' biggest win of the season to date and first victory over UConn in six attempts.

Stephenson led Cincinnati with 21 points and helped show the way back to the NCAA Tournament for a program that that has not been since 2005.

Smokey Roberts
FIBA